6507/3-12 og 6507/3-12 A

10/03/2017
Statoil Petroleum AS, operator of production licence 159 B, has completed the drilling of wildcat well 6507/3-12 and appraisal well 6507/3-12 A. The wells proved gas.

The wells were drilled about six kilometres east of the Alve field in the northern part of the Norwegian Sea and about 200 kilometres west of Sandnessjøen.

The primary exploration target for wildcat well 6507/3-12 was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (Garn and Not formations). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (Ile formation). Another goal was to collect geological data if Cretaceous sandstone rocks were present.

The primary target for appraisal well 6507/3-12 A was to delineate the Cretaceous gas discovery (Lysing formation).

Well 6507/3-12 encountered a total gas column of about 7 metres in a Late Cretaceous sandstone layer with good reservoir properties. In the primary and secondary exploration targets, the well encountered about 30-metres of aquiferous sandstone in the Garn and Not formations, and about 65 metres of aquiferous sandstone in the Ile and Tofte formations, all with good to moderate reservoir properties.

Well 6507/3-12 A was stopped due to technical issues regarding presumed gas-filled sandstone, and no further attempts were made to drill the appraisal well.

Preliminary estimations place the size of the discovery between one and five billion standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable gas. The licensees will assess the discovery along with other nearby discoveries/prospects with regard to a possible development.

Well 6507/3-12 was not formation-tested, but data has been collected and samples were taken.

These are the third and fourth exploration wells in production licence 159 B. The licence was carved out of production licence 159 on 13 August 2004.

Well 6507/3-12 was drilled to a vertical depth of 3428 metres below the sea surface, and was terminated in the Tofte formation in the Early Jurassic. Well 6507/3-12 A was drilled to a vertical depth of 2529 metres below the sea surface and was terminated in the Springar or Nise formation in the Late Cretaceous. Water depth is 381 metres. The wells will be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Wells 6507/3-12 and 6507/3-12 A were drilled by the Deep Sea Bergen drilling facility, which will now proceed to the Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea to complete production well 6506/12-S-4 BH.